Kitchen Gadget Girl

This was not really a traditional dinner party, in the sense that we did not all sit around the table. But we did eat the same thing, Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Smoked Pork Chops. Why, you ask, did we not eat together?

This is the first week of school - one child is taking it all in stride, but the other is needing some time to adjust. No problem, but we are definitely not having guests over mid-week. However, I ended up with two CSA boxes last Friday, so had two big heads of red cabbage to do something with, and when I found a great recipe in my new Simply Organic cookbook, by Jesse Ziff Cool (signed by her, no less!), I decided that ‘who cares if it is 97F outside, I am making early winter dish!’. Who better to share this with than our German-food loving friends down the street, Christy and Tim. Tonight’s menu included:

• Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Smoked Pork Chops
• Green Onion Spaetzle
• Roasted Beets
• Apple Tart

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Just a brief note about the smoked pork chops and a plug for a local business - I have been buying my sausages and wurst at Dittmer’s Gourmet Meats and Wurst-House in Mountain View, since high school, but up until last weekend, I had no idea the joy that can be found in a smoked pork chop. Neighbors brought them to our block party, grilled them until hot and then cut the chops into chunks. OH-MY-GOODNESS, was that outstanding! Each bit of pork had fatty, bacony-like goodness on it, just perfect in its saltiness and texture. Naturally, when the opportunity presented itself to have smoked pork chops again this week, you can bet I jumped right on that. Be sure to visit Dittmer’s, you can even use your rusty old high school German and they will still help you….

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The tart recipe was one that I had turned Becca onto last week, from Cerrus & Bacchus. The roasted beets are very easy: I top the beets, wash them well, and throw them, skin and all, into a 9×13 pan lined with foil. I add about 1/2 cup of water, cover tightly with another piece of foil, and roast for 1 hour at 400F. After letting them cool, I peel and slice, and sprinkle with a touch of balsamic vinegar.

I modified the Spaetzle from a recipe found originally on Epicurious. It is so easy to make your own Spaetzle, and highly worthwhile, that I share the recipe with you here:

Green Onion Spaetzle

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped green onion, just the tops
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

Bring a large pan of water to boil for the Spaetzle. In a large bowl, whisk the flour and salt together. In a heavy saucepan, bring milk to just a simmer. With blender running, add milk to green onion tops, and blend until milk is very green.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs and water, and add green milk in a slow stream, whisking constantly.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and whisk until a soft, smooth, batter-like dough forms.

To make Spaetzle, I use a potato ricer with interchangeable disks. I use the largest disks, and pour about 1 cup of dough into the ricer. Holding the ricer over the boiling water, I plunge the dough through the large disk wholes. This creates many little worm-like Spaetzle in the pot. I do this in batches, cooking about 1 cup of dough at a time.

Initially, the Spaetzle will sink to the bottom. Give them a light stir, and as they cook, the will float to the top. Boil 3-5 minutes, until just tender, then drain in a large colander and rinse with cold water. Continue with remaining dough.

After all Spaetzle have been cooked, melt butter in large frying pan. After foam has subsided, toss the Spaetzle with the melted butter and transfer to a large baking dish. The Spaetzle may be prepared to this point and chilled, covered, for 1 day. Reheat in oven before serving.

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Sorry for the lengthy absence, I have been gallivanting around Alaska with the family. In my absence, Biggie from Lunch in a Box posted a coupon for Reusablebags.com, one of my favorite stores for environmentally sensitive materials including Laptop Lunchboxes and many different styles of reusable shopping bags.

A few years ago I bought a set of organic cotton produce bags, and while I love them in theory, in practice they make it hard for the checker to do their jobs. I put my produce in, cinch the bag up tight so my local and seasonal fruit does not go anywhere, and then when we get to the check out line, the checker has to open the bags to see what is inside. Adds a bit of work to the process of checking out.

One thing I found on Reusable Bags that I love are the Reisenthel Mini Maxi Shoppers. Anytime I take a trip, this bag goes with me - in Alaska, we used it as our snack bag, toting around healthy options to keep the kids happy. In Paris, I have taken it shopping at farmer’s markets and the Bon Marche. Along the same lines, a friend used Envirosax for party favors for her son’s 7th birthday.

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Enough shopping! Another exciting development while I was gone was that Elaine from Wonderstruck left me an award:

Interestingly enough, there is some exciting broo-ha-ha about this award, Michele at With Hearts and Hands, A Quilting Journey, sums it up quite nicely in Brillante Weblog Premio: Hoax Award? In the end, she decides these awards are created to build links and relationships, so in that spirit, I give you 7 current favorites:

buttonwillowsix

Stacey Snacks

Stuff Jen Says

A Thinking Stomach

Italy Logue

The Garden of Eating

Eat Local Challenge

For the nominees here are the rules:
1) Add the logo of the award to your blog
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

How’s that?! The first day of school, and I have already given you homework

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Last week, my friend Becca emailed looking for a recipe that would use the Trader Joe’s Puff Pastry and green apples that she had on hand. She was looking for something sweet and quick. I turned to the Food Blog Search, organized by Elise at Simply Recipes, with help from Kayln and Alanna. In no time at all, I found recipes for Apple Tart from Cerrus & Bacchus, and No Cinnamon Apple Turnovers from Tasty Palette. Quick and easy, and each recipe included pictures. Try it next time you are looking for a new recipe!

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Because we are going out of town, and because I am not fond of returning to a refrigerator full of spoiled veggies, I decided to cook my way through our CSA box last night. We were headed out to a BBQ with friends, and I thought I would bring enough veggie dishes to satisfy us all. This is what I did with my box:

Tomatoes, quartered and tossed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a sprinkle of dried oregano from a previous box.

Roasted Chioggia beets with sliced Manouri cheese.

Broccoli salad, with carrots, roasted almonds, bacon and onion. I started with a broccoli salad recipe from Simply Recipes which suggested blanching the broccoli. Great idea!

Lacinato kale, potatoes, and peppers went into a Torta di Potatas y Kale. Starting with a recipe for Torta di Potatas from another CSA member, and using a recommendation from Hen Waller to roast the kale before using, I whipped up this traditional Spanish dish in my cast iron pan. Here is the recipe I followed:

Torta di Potata y Kale

• 1 bunch kale, separated from stems, torn into pieces and roasted with olive oil at 400F for 10 minutes
• 6 small potatoes, diced and steamed until tender
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 gypsy peppers, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 eggs
• 1/4 cup green onion tops
• Salt & pepper

While roasting the kale and steaming the potatoes, sauté the onions and peppers in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add in the potatoes and kale, sauté 5 minutes more. Mix the eggs, add in the onion tops and S&P. Pour over vegetables, turn down heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 8 minutes, until almost set. To finish, run pan under broiler for 1-2 minutes to set the top. This can be served hot, room temperature or cold.

All the bold items came from our vegetable box from Two Small Farms. Image courtesy of Two Small Farms website.

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This week was a great food week in my life.

In addition to being featured in the Food & Drink section of the August 6th Almanac (for my jam making, no less!), I also had a lovely evening out on Monday, listening to Cook Jesse Cool (favorite gadget: 8″ tongs) in conversation with Jen Maiser, of the Eat Local Challenge, sponsored by the Commonwealth Club of California. Jen then invited me to join a group of food bloggers for dinner at Tamarine, and I was fortunate enough to eat with Sam, Jeanne (favorite gadget: knife sharpener), and Stephanie (favorite gadget: Microplaner, no wait, burr grinder, no wait, Ikea Varde countertops), as well as several Chowhounds who came down from San Francisco to support Jen. Melanie (favorite gadget: Kitchen Aid Dishwasher) guided the dinner and the wine, and I must say, it was joyful to be sitting with a group of folks who enjoyed talking about the food on the table, food as entertainment.

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Back in 1996, when my then-boyfriend-now-husband and I planned our first trip to New York, we pulled out a piece of graph paper, created columns for each day of our trip, and the first thing we planned out was where to eat. Once those large items were in place, we could figure out the rest of our sightseeing.

Telling this story to our family garners giggles and snickers. Telling this story to the food bloggers around the table on Monday garnered knowing looks and nodding heads of agreement. Of course you would plan out where to eat on your vacation. Duh, doesn’t everyone do that?

That, and the great desserts, sealed the evening for me.

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When I went to BlogHer last month, I was really unaware the depth and strength of the food blogger community. After meeting several and lunching with several more, I realized that I am mostly out of my league and these folks are the true experts.

My goal for the next while is to absorb as much as I can, spending lots of time reading food blogs and building my understanding of the network. Fortunately, from the 25 blogs I have added to my reader, I am sure I will learn much.

And in the meantime, I thank the bloggers I have met thus far who have helped me along in my quest for world domination, wait, I mean food knowledge. Biggie, Amy and Kayln, thank you for your links. Jen, thank you for including me at your dinner party. And to all the other food bloggers I have met, thank you for your welcome!

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I love roasted chicken, especially with lemon and salt. It is my favorite, hot from the oven. Sometimes, I will cook two at a time, just for leftovers. I have also been known to sneak bites in the kitchen before bringing the serving plate to the table.

Preparing the chicken is my least favorite part of the whole equation. It is not that I don’t like trussing chickens, because bending back chicken wings so they fit behind the shoulder is a secret joy.

But when I go to truss the bird, I can never find the string in the drawer, mostly because my kids abscond with it for their own little projects. So when I saw The Food Loop, I was excited. Imagine, trussing the chicken quickly and easily, with cute pink silicone strings. This could be fun!

Sadly, all has not worked out the way I had hoped. The Loops slip off the chicken legs, or don’t stay put once I slide the bird in the oven. The little grippers on the side don’t hold well and the chicken legs end up flopping apart, allowing the cavity contents to spill out into the pan. Once, I tried using the Loops on a trussed chicken I was putting on my rotisserie, and ended up with a huge mess.

The best application for these Loops is probably a stuffed tenderloin of some sort, or a stuffed whole fish, as they show on their website. Maybe it is not suited for chicken use.

In any case, I recommend this product with reservations. For everyday chicken trussing, I am going to stick with kitchen twine and girl scout knots. If I have the occasion to stuff a pork or beef tenderloin, or an entire fish, I will pull the loops out and give them a go.

Have you tried The Food Loop? What did you think?

Photo courtesy of Barcex.

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My college friend Laura was in town last week and came over for dinner with her two boys. I served a summer dinner, taking advantage of much of my CSA produce (potatoes, basil, peppers, romaine lettuce, zucchini, and carrots). We started with an appetizer of peppers, sautéed quickly in olive oil, until blistery and sprinkled with sea salt, along with a chunk of Asiago Fresco and a light rose wine. The rest of the menu included:

• Grilled rosemary-marinated chicken
• Potato, green bean and pesto pasta salad
• Grilled zucchini
• Romaine salad with lemony vinaigrette (didn’t that appear on another menu recently?)
• Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Three of these recipes, the Rosemary Chicken, the Pasta Salad and the Carrot Cupcakes, came out of Everyday Food Great Food Fast, a cookbook I highly recommend. It has recipes organized by season, which is more in-line with the way I cook these days. The pictures are inspirational (and mouth-watering!), and ingredients are kept to a minimum. I am still getting comments about the Skirt Steak with Spicy Green Salsa I made a while ago.

Spicy Green Salsa

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon minced pickled jalapeno chili
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• salt to taste

Combine all ingredients with 1 tablespoon water. Can be made 3-4 days in advance. The tart spicy flavors of this salsa go well with most grilled meats, especially nicely marbled skirt steaks.

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